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Wind and Water Pollination

Many flowers are pollinated without the aid of animals (insect, bird, or mammal). Here are a few examples.

Wind Pollination

Most conifers and about 12% of the world’s flowering plants are wind-pollinated. They include grasses and their cultivated cousins, the cereal crops; many trees; the infamous allergenic ragweeds; and others. All release billions of pollen grains into the air so that a lucky few will hit their targets.

Water Pollination

Pollen can also float on the water’s surface drifting until it contacts flowers. This is called surface hydrophily and is relatively rare. This water-aided pollination occurs in waterweeds and pondweeds. In a very few cases, pollen travels underwater.

Many of the water-pollinated plants have become invasive throughout the United States. To learn more, visit these invasive species websites: